Dani and Matt
by colls7721
Summary: I'm just writing this for fun and because I'm bored. This is a story that's been inspired through all the reading I do and through fanfictions I've read and, well partially real life. I hope you like it! Sarah Dessen is one of my best inspirations.
1. Movie Night Juno

Matt watched the timer on the microwave count down. Twenty six seconds… twenty five… twenty four….

"Matt?" A soft voice interrupted his counting. Dani was here.

"In the kitchen" Matt called back. He looked towards the doorway as she rounded the corner from the front all. Her long dark hair look damp from the rain. As she walked towards him she unzipped her wet navy blue jacket jacket and tossed it on the counter, revealing a tight, gray, faded Boston College t-shirt and a pair of worn jeans.

The microwave beeped. "Hey, just in time," Matt said. "Popcorn's ready!"

"Yum, it better be kettlecorn," Dani replied.

"Of course, its your week."

It was Saturday night. Dani and Matt were having their weekly movie night. Tonight was Dani's night meaning it was her movie pick and her choice of snack. The movie was Juno- it had just recently been released from theaters and Matt hadn't seen it yet. Dani had seen it in theaters with her then boyfriend Parker and insisted Matt would love it.

As Dani grabbed two sodas and headed into the den, Matt followed with the bowl of popcorn and focused on watching the floor. Dani flounced on the couch and tossed her feet up on the coffee table infront of her. Matt landed gently next to her and traded the bowl of popcorn for his soda. He tried not to notice as his fingers gently brushed hers and sent a thrill through his body.

_This is Dani. She's still off limits. _

He'd been telling himself this for months. Eight months to be exact. The first four weren't so hard. She'd been with Parker, and it hadn't been to hard to remember she had a boyfriend. Besides, they were best friends. He wasn't supposed to think of her like that.

But then the break up happened. For two months Matt had watched Dani try and cope with it. He'd been there for her the night it happened, when she'd crawled into his window and cried herself to sleep in his arms. And he'd been there every time she texted him wondering why it had to hurt so much, and if it would ever stop. He'd held her so many times, wishing so badly that he could brush everything away. But he couldn't.

Eventually, the breakdowns came further apart, and she seemed to be happier. But Matt knew she still wasn't over Parker. And either way, he knew she'd never think of him as more than just her best friend. Sure, they shared every secret and every spare moment together, but that didn't mean they had to share anything else, right?

"Matt?" Her voice snapped him out of his thoughts. "You're going to love this movie, I swear. Pretty much every word Juno says is hilarious. And its not like stupid funny like Superbad. It's so good! Ready to start?"

"I'm ready"

She picked up the dvd clicker and hit play, then snuggled down into the couch and rested her head against Matt's shoulder.

Again, Matt forced himself to clear his head. _Focus on the movie _he told himself. He remembered what Dani said about it and knew this was a movie he'd love. She knew him, and knew what he liked. The first line came out – "It started with a chair." Matt took a sip of his drink and forgot about anything but the movie.


	2. Parker Sighting

Chapter 2

At school on Monday, Dani was rummaging through her locker. Where the hell was her Trig book? She knew she'd left her homework in between the pages of it, and she only had ten minutes before class. Her book was nowhere in sight.

"Looking for something?"

It was Matt, holding up her book.

"Oh thank god! Where'd you find that?"

"You left it at my house yesterday. You must have gotten distracted packing up by my serenade."

"You belting out Fall Out Boy into your pencil does not count as a serenade," Dani smirked.

"Well, it's the closest you're going to get to me serenading you," Matt retorted, sticking out his tongue. Dani reached for her trig book but Matt pulled it away out of reach. He had almost 8 inches on her in height, so keeping the book away was no problem.

"You're not getting this back until you tell me how much you _adore_ my singing voice," Matt teased, a goofy smile on his face as Dani jumped for the book.

"Oh yeah right. You know I can't lie to you Matt! You're my best friend, its not allowed," Dani teased back.

Then in the middle of their banter, something caught Dani's eye, and her face fell. Matt lowered the book and turned around to see what was wrong. A few yards down the hallway, Parker was leaning against the locker talking to a petite blonde. They were holding hands, and after staring for a few moments, Dani and Matt both cringed as their lips met.

Dani slammed the locker door, and Matt instantly turned back to face her. Her cheeks were flushed with anger, and he saw her hands start to tremble as she reached for her trig book.

"See you later," she choked out before turning and dashing down the hall to class.

They didn't see each other again until after school. Dani was still in a bad mood as Matt drove her home. She hardly answered as he joked about their English quiz, and mentioned how he'd tripped in gym class. Matt had always been clumsy, and Dani teased him about it regularly.

As they pulled up to Dani's house Matt parked the car and turned to her.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Uh huh"

"Do you want to talk about-"

"No I'm fine. I just want to take a nap."

Dani always slept when she was upset. She claimed dreams were better than reality most of the time anyways. When Matt had questioned this she'd only replied by asking if he could fly in real life before changing the subject.

"Okay, let me know if you want to work on homework together later."

"I will, but I'm not really in the mood tonight. So I'll probably just see you tomorrow, thanks for the ride."

"No problem. See you tomorrow," Matt said, letting out a sigh as Dani slammed the door and dragged her feet into the house. He hated it when she was upset and wouldn't let him in.

Hours later, as Matt was climbing out of the shower, his phone beeped. He dried off and flipped it open. It was from Dani, or technically "Dani is Awesome" as she had changed her name to be in his contacts. The message didn't take long to read. All it said was _I need you._

Matt quickly responded- _Should I come over?_

_Yes please_ – was the immediate response.

Fifteen minutes later he was dashing up her back steps. He snuck past her dad passed out on the couch with the news on TV, and went straight up the stairs to Dani's room.

The lights were off, and the curtains drawn. Dani was curled up in a ball on her bed facing the wall. Matt crossed the room in three strides and sat down behind her. He carefully reached for her shoulder. She was shaking, but she was crying silently. She rolled over and buried her face in his knee. Gently, Matt pulled her up so that she was sitting. He put his arms around her waist and pulled her into his lap. She rested her head against his shoulder. He began stroking her hair, but didn't say a word.

"I… hate… her," Dani choked out between sobs.

"Shh, I know, me too."

"He… He…"

"Shh, just take deep breaths," Matt told her. She always worked herself up more trying to talk when she cried.

And half hour later she was finally calm. After multiple tissues, a round of hiccups, and some deep breathing, the two were lying down on the bed. Dani was still squeezing Matt's hand, but she her eyes were shut and she seemed to be drifting off to sleep.

"Thank you," she whispered. "I love you."

"I love you too," Matt replied. But he couldn't help thinking it wasn't the same. He knew Dani did love him, but only as a best friend. When he said it he knew it carried different meaning.


	3. How many shots?

Chapter 3

The thing most people didn't understand about Parker and Dani was how close they'd been. Sure, everyone knew they were a couple for almost a year. People had agreed they were adorable and made a good pair, but nobody ever thinks twice about a couple's relationship outside of school.

Matt knew better. He knew how hard Dani had fallen for Parker. About a month before they had broken up, Dani had told Matt she was in love. When she finally told Parker, he didn't feel the same. He cared about Dani, but wasn't "ready for love" he'd said. Dani had been crushed, but they'd stayed together as long as they could handle. But when Parker wouldn't say he loved her, and Dani wouldn't give in to sleeping with him, things fell apart. Finally Parker had decided it wasn't going to work out- and Dani was left crushed.

Had it not been so serious, and had Dani not been so in love, she'd probably be over the break up by now. But it came at terrible timing- right when school started. They still had to see each other all the time, and Dani had to accept the fact the Parker moved on fast. He seemed upset for a few weeks, but it quickly became clear that their relationship had never meant the same thing to Parker as it had to Dani.

Matt of course had been the one to pick up the pieces. And while Parker hadn't actually been too much of a jerk, he couldn't help hating him for hurting Dani.

And by the weekend, word had spread. Parker and Amy (the blonde) were officially an item. After that night Dani had forced herself to avoid talking about it, though Matt could tell she was definitely thinking about it.

After school on Friday Dani got a ride home with Matt as usual. She kept his chitchat fueled but wasn't really partaking in the conversation. In front of her house though, Matt finally said something that caught her attention.

"So I guess Beth's parents are away for the weekend and she's having a huge party tonight. I was thinking about going, have you heard about it?"

"No, I hadn't. I definitely could use some sort of party though, can I come with you?"

"Yeah definitely. I'll pick you up at eight?"

"Okay cool, see you tonight!"

Suddenly Dani felt energized. She dashed into the house and up to her room. This week had sucked. Everywhere she turned it seemed like Parker and Amy came up. A party was just what she needed to escape.

As she thought about the party, she decided to call up her closest girlfriend Samantha. The two had been friends since they were small, and they had met Matt in middle school. Matt and Dani had been close ever since, and Samantha had found another crowd to hang out with, but the three still were good friends.

"Hey Samantha, did you hear about Beth's party tonight?"

"Yeah it's going to be crazy. I can't wait. She's got that boyfriend Aiden from Westbrook so a ton of kids from there are going. Plus I guess he has an older brother who's supplying the whole thing. Are you going?"

"Yeah me and Matt are going. I definitely need something fun to do this weekend."

"Oh no worries, I'll help cheer you up. We can meet some new boys from Westbrook and you can forget all about Parker, promise."

"Okay, either way I just want to not think tonight, so I'll meet you there and we can party together okay?"

"Definitely, I gotta go though so I'll see you tonight! Look hott!"

Dani laughed and hung up the phone. This was perfect. Samantha was more of a partier than Dani, so she was definitely the best person to make this night fun.

A few hours later Dani was standing in front of the mirror trying to decide what to wear. Her hair was blown dry- she never needed to do much with it since it was long, thick and straight. She had on her best pair of jeans and was debating between two tops when Matt called. He was on his way.

Quickly Dani through on a low cut black tank top with fancy straps, and her favorite black flats. She did her make up with extra eyeliner and smokey eye shadow and made sure her lips were glossed. She pocketed her cell phone and ran down to open the door at the exact time Matt showed up.

"Wow, you look great Dani," Matt said looking honestly impressed.

Dani laughed. "Thanks, you look pretty good yourself." She slammed the door shut and bounced to the car.

"You're in a good mood," Matt noted.

"I'm just excited. This is exactly what I need. Samantha's gonna be there and she promised to make things fun."

"Oh good, we haven't hung out with her in a while. Just be careful, she parties hard," Matt warned in a light tone.

"No worries Matty, I promise I'll be a good girl," Dani teased as she stuck out her tongue.

When they got to the party, not too many people were there yet. Beth and her boyfriend as well as their closest friends were getting drinks ready and playing around with the stereo system. When they entered the kitchen Samantha greeted them in a short skirt and tiny tube top.

"Dani! Matt! I'm so glad you guys are here!" Samantha squealed, "This is going to be awesome I swear. Lets go do a shot to kick of the night, 'kay?" She grabbed Dani's hand and dragged her over to the counter by the vodka bottles. Matt followed.

"I've never done shots, are you sure this is the best idea?" Dani questioned.

"Sure, I promise you'll be fine. Just keep track of how many you have and don't have too many! I'll keep an eye on you." Samantha promised as she poured the alcohol into three shot glasses. "Cheers!"

Two hours later the house was spilling with kids. Dani didn't recognize half of them but for once she didn't really care. Samantha had definitely taken care of her- she was absolutely giddy and hadn't thought about Parker once.

As she wandered through a hall way to the kitchen Dani stumbled into Matt.

"Matty! There you are! Where have you been?" Dani yelled over the music, hugging Matt quickly before pulling back to look at him. "How much have you had? I think I've had like five shots. Or six… I can't remember but Sam knows! It feels so good! Don't you feel good?"

"I've only had two or three, I don't want to get too drunk. Are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm great! Oh look, there's Sam! I'm gonna go see her! I'll come back in a few minutes!" Dani waved and wobbled off into the next room. Matt wondered if he should follow her, until he looked over to the front door. Parker and Amy had just come in.

"Crap," Matt muttered. That was the last thing Dani needed. But Dani wasn't looking, and if he was careful he could watch where they were and make sure Dani didn't get too close. So he hovered in the hall until they left. And when he looked back to check on Dani, she and Samantha were gone.

"Guys, this is Dani. She's totally cool, she's one of my best friends!" Samantha announced to a pair of guys Dani didn't recognize. Both of them were cute, but within seconds Samantha had already attached herself to on of them. Clearly the other was meant for Dani.

"I'm Tyler," the boy introduced himself, leaning close to Dani so she could hear. He wasn't tall, but Dani could tell through his shirt that he was muscular. He had dark hair, and dark eyes. He smiled at her, and Dani couldn't help but feel excited.

"Hi, do you go to Westbrook?"

"I did, I graduated last year," Tyler said.

"Oh cool, I'm a junior at John Hopkins." Dani said, and suddenly feeling courageous she put her hand on his arm. In response, Tyler moved closer and began kept talking. As they talked Dani felt his hand slide to her waist. A thrill shot through her, and she wobbled a bit. Tyler quickly grabbed her and pulled her closer until she was pushed up against him.

"Whoa, careful there cutie. You a little tipsy?" Tyler smirked.

"Oh no I'm fine," Dani said, starting to feel a little nervous. She wasn't drunk was she? Everything did feel a little unstable. But she felt so good- her head was light and she felt happy. "I'm great actually," she correct, and flashed him what she hoped was a sexy smile.

That's when she saw them. A quick glance across the room and she saw Parker and Amy walking in through the kitchen. Parker's arm was around Amy, who of course looked amazing.

_Do something! _ Dani's mind commanded. _You can make him jealous! You're with a hott guy, go for it. _

Without rethinking it, Dani looked up at the guy holding her, (Taylor? She couldn't quite remember his name…) and kissed him hard. He immediately responded and within seconds his tongue was in her mouth.

_Don't fight it, _Dani's mind told her. _This is good. This is what you want. Samantha set this up, remember?_

So she kissed him back. After a few minutes of making out, he pulled away. She looked around for Parker to see if he was jealous, but he was gone. That was good right? He was probably mad and had to leave.

"Come on," Tyler whispered. He took Dani around the waist and led her outside. She stumbled down the back porch steps, but Tyler caught her.

_How sweet_, she thought, _he's taking care of me._

And then he was kissing her again. This time it felt more urgent than last time. She was suddenly pinned between the wall and Tyler, but she didn't remember moving. His hands were straying from her waist. And his kisses were getting more and more intense.

_Stop it, _her head was telling her, _just relax. This is good. It still feels good, just don't think._

But it didn't feel good. His hands were sliding up her body, but for some reason every time she pulled one hand away another was there. Finally she gave up, but as soon as she did she felt her bra release. He'd unhooked it. She fidgeted and tried to push him away.

He was too strong. She protested but he wouldn't listen.

"Come on," he urgred.

"I want you," he insisted. Suddenly his hands were moving lower, off the rest of her. He pulled back a little to fight with her zipper.

As she tried to pull away she realized she could hardly hear the music anymore. The were at the pool house, too far from the house for anyone to see from the door.

She shivered, and tried again to push him off her as she realized how freezing it was. The strap to her shirt had broken and the top had fallen down quite a bit. And he wasn't stopping.

_Come on, _the voice in her head was still reasoning, _its not a big deal. Just hook up with him. Who cares? Parker will be so jealous when he finds out. _

But he wouldn't. He'd moved on already. It was Dani who was jealous.

"Stop!" Dani heard herself yell. She shoved hard and Tyler finally stumbled for a second. But it wasn't going to be enough.

"Dani? Are you out here?"

It was Matt.

"Matt?" Dani whimpered, "Is that you?"

"Fuck," Tyler muttered. And he took off for the house.


	4. The After Party

Chapter 4

"Dani, whats going on?" Matt asked, sounding worried. He was still approaching and Dani could tell her couldn't see her yet. If he could, he'd be way more concerned. She quickly tried to fix her shirt, but the bra was another issue, and she knew she was probably just a mess in general.

"What the hell happened to you? Crap, are you okay?" Matt was right in front of her now, and he was definitely worried, and angry.

_Why is he angry? _Dani wondered, _He doesn't need to be mad._

But Matt was furious.

"Did he hurt you? What did he do to you? Who the hell was that guy anyways? God, Dani, what they hell is going on? Dani! Look at me!"

Dani reluctantly looked up at him. He was trying to stay calm, but his face was red and she was still too dazed to understand why.

"I don't know… we were talking and he was really cute… and then Parker was there… and I'm not sure…" Dani mumbled.

"Parker? You saw him? Fuck, I knew that wasn't going to be good." Matt ran a hand through his hair and closed his eyes. After a deep breath, he opened them again and looked Dani over. "What happened to your shirt?"

"I don't know… I tried to get him to stop but he wouldn't listen. I think it's broken."

"Who is this guy? I'm going to go find him and-" That caught Dani's attention.

"No Matt don't. Seriously, can we just go? It's not a big deal-"

"It is a big deal. Jesus, Dani, if I hadn't come out here right then…. I don't even want to think about what would have happened. Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine! Nothing was going to happen. Lets just go, take me home. Please."

For a moment Matt just stared at her, reluctant to give in so easily. Finally he said, "Okay, okay, if you're not hurt then we can go."

"I'm not hurt, I promise. "

"Okay, come on. We'll go around the side. I don't want you walking through the house with your shirt like that."

Holding on to his hand, Dani followed Matt around the edge of the house and through to the front yard. When they made it to the car, Matt opened the passenger side door and helped Dani in.

"Do you feel okay?" He asked, "You're not going to be sick?"

"No, I don't think so. I'm good."

Matt shut the door and walked around the car and got in. As he drove home, he tried to get Dani to tell him who the guy was.

" I don't remember Matt, I swear. I think his name was Taylor or Tyler or something. But either way it doesn't matter. You're not going back to that party to find him and you're not gonna see him ever again. Just let it go, okay?"

"Fine." He muttered. But Dani could tell her wasn't satisfied. He didn't speak the rest of the way back to her house. When they pulled up, Matt turned off the car.

"Are you coming in?"

"Yeah, is that okay? I wan't to make sure you get to bed safely."

"Yeah, do you wanna spend the night?"

"Only if you want me to," Matt said cautiously.

"Yeah, I do. I don't really want to be alone right now. Unless you're mad at me."

"Dani, no, I'm not mad at you," Matt's voice softened. "It's not your fault. He took advantage of you."

"Yeah but I let him."

"No," Matt said, sounding angry again. "You had way too much to drink, and he had no right to do what he did. It doesn't matter if you couldn't stop him. You were drunk. You probably still are, actually, and we're not going to argue about this anymore."

Dani unlocked the door, and the two of them crept inside. The chances that Dani's dad would wake up were slim, but neither of them wanted to explain anything so they stayed quiet until they made it upstairs to her room.

Without thinking, Dani pulled off her shirt to change. Matt had seen her in her bathing suit before- it was the same thing right? But Dani had forgotten that her bra was unhooked, and Matt hadn't noticed until now, when it came off along with her damaged top.

"Crap," Dani muttered. "Don't look, okay?"

It was too late though. Matt pulled his eyes away, trying impossibly to not think about what he'd seen. This was going to be a long night.

"Are you okay?" Dani asked nervously. Matt had been acting oddly formal since she'd accidentally flashed him. A few minutes after Dani had decided it would be best for her to shower before she went to sleep. She'd taken her time, and when she came back Matt was on the phone with his mom explaining that he was sleeping over a buddy's house. After he'd hung up, he didn't move from his position at her desk. She was in her pajamas now, and she sat on the bed waiting for him to say something. Nothing came.

"I'm fine," Matt finally responded quietly.

"Okay…" Dani had sobered up most of the way, but her head was now pounding a bit. "Should we go to sleep then?"

"Yeah… um, should I just sleep on the floor?"

"Why? My bed is plenty big enough for both of us."

"I know but…" Matt didn't finish his sentence. He just started fixedly at the floor. Dani wasn't sure what to do with herself, and after a moment the tension got too thick.

"Okay, well I'm going to go get some Advil… you can borrow an extra t-shirt to sleep in if you want, and I think there are a pair of your old gym shorts in my bottom drawer. I'll be right back."

With a sigh,Matt quickly changed once she'd left as he fought with himself over what to do.

_Calm down, you're being ridiculous_, part of him was saying. _So you saw her without a shirt on- big deal. Stop thinking about her that way. You've shared a bed with her a million times, it's Dani remember? You can't go there._

The rest of his head fought back. _You know if you share a bed with her tonight you're not going to be able to stop thinking about it. Just sleep on the floor. You have to get over this stupid crush and if you let her keep putting you in situations like this it's never going to happen. _

But the first half of him won. He could just suck it up, couldn't he? Dani would think he was crazy if he kept acting like this. He would just act like nothing happened. It wasn't a big deal if she was okay with it right? And besides, he didn't want to sleep on the floor.

He moved over to sit on the bed just as Dani returned. She'd brought two glasses of water with her and she handed one to Matt.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome. Ready for bed? You're not sleeping on the floor are you?" Dani said teasingly.

"Nope. Bed time."

Dani climbed in first, taking her spot closest to the wall, and Matt slipped carefully in next to her. Then he reached over, and switched off the lamp behind them so they were in the dark.

After a few minutes Dani said, "Matt?"

"Yeah Dani?"

"Thanks for helping me tonight."

"Anytime, you know that."

" I know," she whispered. "Good night." Her hand found his and just a few minutes later she was asleep, still holding on tightly.


End file.
